Workers Resistance

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  • Tennessee statewide day of action for farmworker justice

    Clarksville, TN – In six cities across the state of Tennessee on July 20, people held pickets and delivered letters to Publix managers urging the Publix grocery store chain to join the Fair Food Program that would improve wages and working conditions for tomato pickers in Florida.

    So far eleven major companies have signed on to the Fair Food Program, developed by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Yet, despite massive protests, marches, hunger strikes and demonstrations around the country, for four years Publix has refused to even sit at the table to discuss joining this program that would not only help farmworkers get a better wage, but would also help to put an end to pervasive human rights abuses in Florida tomato fields.

    In Nashville, Zach Blume with the Student Farmworker Alliance at Vanderbilt University said, “Publix, if you want to move into Tennessee we need you to expand your human rights!” This sentiment was echoed across the state as picketers in Clarksville held a banner that read, “Publix: sign on to Fair Food” and chanted “No more slaves! Pay a living wage!” outside of the two Publix locations in the area. A member of Students for a Democratic Society who helped organize the demonstration in Clarksville said, “We are asking Publix to follow the words of its founder and ‘not let making a profit get in the way of doing the right thing.’ We want Publix to do the right thing and sign on to Fair Food, a program that ensures the basic rights and respects the dignity of farmworkers.”

    For several years Publix has been steadily expanding its stores into the state of Tennessee and July 20 marks the first time that organizers have come together across the state to collectively put the heat on one the Southeast region’s largest food store chains. Protesters made their message to Publix very clear and could be heard from Knoxville to Clarksville, chanting “Publix, escucha! Estamos en la lucha!” meaning “Publix, listen up! We’re in the fight!”

    Organizers plan to continue building the fight back in Tennessee against attacks on farmworkers. More information about the CIW and the Fair Food Program can be found at: www.CIW-online.org. For more information about the Fair Food Campaign in Tennessee visit: www.NashvilleFairFood.wordpress.com.

  • Boston – Talk by Parthosarathy Ray on India : An Urban Battleground, Jul 26

    Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia p r e s e n t s INDIA: AN URBAN BATTLEGROUND a talk by Dr. Parthosarathy Ray FRI. JUL 26. | 6:30 pm MIT Building 4, Room 237 677 Mass Ave, Cambridge Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/353266528135923/ About Over the last decade or so, the focus of most […]

  • Kerala – NAPM Statement condemning brutal police attack on protest against Nitta Gelatin in Kathikudam

    New Delhi, July 21 : In a shocking and highly condemnable incident police brutally attacked the peaceful gathering of villagers, yesterday, who were removing the illegally laid effluent pipeline of the Nitta Gelatin Company in village of Kathikudam in Thrissur District of Kerala. The people were discharging the legal responsibility of removing the pipe laid […]

  • We Remember Manuel: Photos from Anaheim’s Struggle Against Police Brutality

    On July 21st, 2012, a young man named Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by the Anaheim Police Department. Diaz was unarmed, but–as the story often goes–the killer cop felt that his life was “in imminent danger” nevertheless. Diaz was hit once in the buttocks and again in the back of the head, and was reported dead shortly thereafter.

    Anaheim erupted into protests shortly after, and the police response only angered the community further: video evidence shows cops unleashing a K-9 unit on children and firing rubber bullets at crowds filled with angry mothers, youth, kids.

    A year later, hundreds of community members and their supporters–along with the families of over 30 victims of police violence in California–assembled in Anaheim to express our continued outrage not simply at last summer’s crimes, but at the continued assault by cops everywhere against particularly young Black and Latino men.

  • Protests demanding justice for Trayvon grow larger in San José

    San José, CA – A week after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, another rally and march drew more than 250 people, three times the size of the week before. The protest continued to be majority African American with a large number of Chicanos, Mexicanos and Latinos. Many of the protest signs were in Spanish. There were also more middle-aged and older people and a sprinkling of families with children at the rally. At the top of the demand list was that the Department of Justice file civil rights violation charges against George Zimmerman.

    During the rally, Ross Pusey told the crowd how he had been made a suspect because he was a young Black man. “I could have been Trayvon,” he said. “It is happening right here [in San José]. Another speaker said in Spanish “¡Este sistema judicial es basura!” (This justice system is garbage), referring to the outcome of the case. Akabandu of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) said, “This is not a one person task – we need to organize!”

    The protest then marched down Santa Clara through the heart of downtown San José to the Federal Building. After briefly blocking a streetcar line, the rally continued. One of the speakers was Masao Suzuki from Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) who asked: “Did the police arrest Zimmerman after he killed Trayvon? No! Did the prosecutors file charges against Zimmerman? No! He was only arrested and charged after the youth of Florida protested, including sitting in at the Sanford Police station. If we want the Department of Justice to file charges, we need to continue to protest, we need to continue to organize!”

  • Trans Pacific Partnership : TPP Wraps Up Another Round: What Does This Mean for You?

    Democracy and Class Struggle has been pointing out the dangers of TPP for some time – if you have not heard of it – it is time you became aware of TPP.

    Lori Wallach: TPP agreement cuts banks loose, undermines Buy America, hurts food safety and environmental safety, but it’s still being put on the fast-track by Obama.

    See Also:
    http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/

  • No escape from Caste Prejudice even in UK by Anahita Mukherji

    LONDON: If you happen to be of Dalit origin, or from the so-called lower castes, migrating out of India may not help you escape discrimination. India’s infamous caste system has reared its ugly head in the United Kingdom.

    School children from the lower castes have been taunted with casteist slurs like “bhangi” and “chamar” from other Indian school children of a higher caste. Many Indians in

  • Bihar – Report on detention and torture of cultural activists in Vaishali

    [Summary in English – Bhagat Singh Chatra Morcha and Mashal Sanskritik Manch from BHU was holding a cultural programme (to celebrate Premchand jayanti) in Laalganj area of Vaishali, North Bihar, when they were picked up by a battalion of COBRA, CRPF, STF and local police. They were detained, tortured and their belongings were confiscated. The […]

  • Kolkata – CRPP All-India Convention, Jul 20

    Committee For The Release of Political Prisoners West Bengal(Preparatory) Chapter An All-India convention on 20 July at Seva Kendra, Kolkata on Kolkata High Court judgement on political prisoners, repeal of draconian laws, withdrawal of ban from all banned organizations and the unconditional release of political prisoners. ################# You are aware of the fact that state […]

  • July 18: Malala Yousafzai and the White Saviour Complex

    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/assed-baig/malala-yousafzai-white-saviour_b_3592\ 165.html Assed Baig When Malala Yusufzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen simply because she wanted to gain an education it sent shockwaves around the world. Straight away the Western media took up the issue. Western politicians spoke out and soon she found herself in the UK. The way in which the […]